Sorry, this is another n00b question. Are there keyboard shortcuts for Calibre?

I'm using it on OSX, and so far I haven't been able to set keyboard shortcuts via the system, whether I use the button label or the first item in the drop-down menu (e.g. "Add books" or "Add books from a single directory").

Only one menu item has a keyboard shortcut shown. None of the others have keyboard shortcuts. I can't find any in the manual, FAQ or here.

Are there any? It would be a big help as I am disabled and rely on the keyboard.

Thankyou.

Clytie

#2 Starson17 05-04-2010, 10:33 AM

Quote Clytie

Are there keyboard shortcuts for Calibre?

Yes. Right click on any book. The shortcut letter keys are on the right side of the list that appears. A few shortcuts are deeper in the menu ("M" for Merge is one.)

#3 riverteeth 07-21-2010, 12:00 AM

Sorry Starson17, but I think what you describe can only be called a half keyboard shortcut. If I have to move my hand to the mouse to right click, then the purpose of a keyboard shortcut has been negated.

I don't see any other posts about this on the forum, so I'm assuming there really aren't any true keyboard shortcuts, which is a shame. That's something I'd really like to see in a future update.

I'm on OSX as well. Is the reason we can't add shortcuts via the OS settings because there's no real menu (all commands placed on the toolbar instead)? What was the reasoning behind not providing a menu (that appears in the top menubar)?

#4 kovidgoyal 07-21-2010, 12:13 AM

No you right click to find out what the shortcuts are. Once you know that, you can use them without a mouse.

#5 lila55 07-21-2010, 12:17 AM

Quote riverteeth

Sorry Starson17, but I think what you describe can only be called a half keyboard shortcut. If I have to move my hand to the mouse to right click, then the purpose of a keyboard shortcut has been negated.

If I understand Starson17 correctly, he was just explaining how you can check which keys to use for what action - that you can see by rightclicking. In order to perform those actions (editing, converting and so on) all you have to to is mark a book and then press the key accordingly, for example press e if you want to edit, press c if you want to convert the format - no mouse movement required for that.

Edit: Kovid was faster

#6 riverteeth 07-21-2010, 12:25 AM

My bad! I'm used to having to press command or ctr with keyboard shortcuts, so this didn't even occur to me. Thanks!

#7 Starson17 07-21-2010, 08:39 AM

Quote lila55

If I understand Starson17 correctly, he was just explaining how you can check which keys to use for what action

Correct (you and Kovid were both faster than me )

#8 tao 08-29-2010, 08:50 PM

Seems some keyboard shortcuts are not documented anywhere. For example, "A" key to Add books, cannot be seen by right click on a book.

Anywhere a comprehensive list of the keyboard shortcuts? I searched the online manual, it was not there.

#9 Clytie 08-30-2010, 04:40 AM

Please also point out in the manual that no modifier key is necessary. Mac users, for example, are used to pressing the Command key with a letter for common keyboard shortcuts.

It took me this long to work out that I only have to press the letter key itself. In list view, you press A to add books, E to edit the one which is selected, D to send it to the device, S to save it, C to convert it, V to view it, and O to open the containing folder.

A quick paragraph on keyboard shortcuts would be very welcome in the manual. If the manual is HTML, is this useful?

Code

<h2>Keyboard Shortcuts</h2>
<p>Calibre has several keyboard shortcuts to save you time and mouse movement. These shortcuts are active in list view (when you're not editing the details of a particular book), and most of them affect the title you have selected.</p>
<p><i>Note: the basic Calibre keyboard shortcuts do not require a modifier key (Command, Option, Control etc.). You only need to press the letter key, e.g. E to edit.</i></p>
<h3>Basic Keyboard Shortcuts</h3>
<ul>
<li><b>A</b>: Add books</li>
<li><b>C</b>: Convert books</li>
<li><b>D</b>: send to Device</li>
<li><b>E</b>: Edit metadata</li>
<li><b>I</b>: get Info</li>
<li><b>O</b>: Open book folder</li>
<li><b>S</b>: Save to disk</li>
<li><b>V</b>: View</li>
</ul>
<p>Inside the menus, you will find other keyboard shortcuts, most of which <i>do</i> use modifier keys. These are handy when you do a specific action often.</p>

I don't know if you want to add info on the submenu commands. This is a start. You could also link them to the sections on each function.